What is stomach reduction?
It is a type of operation whose purpose is to treat obesity. In fact, obesity has become one of the main health problems in recent times, since the excessive accumulation of fat in our body has proven to be detrimental to our health.
What does it consist of?
Stomach reduction can be achieved through restrictive or malabsorptive procedures.
The former reduce part of the stomach’s capacity, while malabsorptive procedures try to reduce the intake of all nutrients and calories from food. There are also non-surgical treatment options whose purpose is the same: to reduce the capacity of the stomach.
Types of stomach reduction treatments
There are three types of operations to reduce the size of the stomach:
- Gastric Tube or gastric sleeve. It consists of a technique that reduces the size of the stomach without altering the noble parts of the organ.
- Gastric Plicatura. In this case, a greater curvature is applied to the stomach to reduce its capacity up to 80%. In this way, excessive food intake is avoided.
- Gastric Banding. Unlike the previous ones, in gastric banding, a ring is applied to regulate the entrance of food into the stomach, causing a feeling of fullness.
What are the advantages?
One of the main advantages of stomach reduction is that it is a rather physiological operation and not as artificial as other procedures, such as gastric bypass, can be. In addition, almost any patient is suitable for this surgery, since it can be applied in young patients, pending future pregnancies or with intestinal pathologies.
However, one of its main disadvantages is that the weight loss is less than that obtained through other procedures.
What does it depend on to choose one or another type of treatment?
As we can see, there are a multitude of options and treatments to achieve a stomach reduction. However, it will always be necessary to study the patient and determine which of the options is the most suitable for him/her.
In general terms, it is understood that the greater the obesity and the greater the metabolic problems the patient presents, the more necessary an intervention will be to control them as soon as possible. On the contrary, the younger or older and with more health problems, the less aggressive intervention will be required.
Alternatives to stomach reduction
It should be remembered that most stomach reduction techniques are aimed at patients who are obese. That is, their body mass index (BMI) is above 30.
For other cases, patients should try to achieve a balanced weight by adjusting their diet to an active lifestyle and reducing caloric intake.